The present invention relates to semiconductor laser and detector devices, and in particular to those for generating multiple beams. U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,062 described a laser/detector for use in optical pickups. In that device, as shown in FIG. 1, a laser chip 110 is mounted on top of a multiple element detector 120 which contains light sensitive elements for detecting a returned beam from a medium and also the back emission of the edge emitting laser chip 110. The mirror 150 redirects the light upwards towards the medium. The mirror surface is also corrugated to split the laser beam from laser chip 110 into 3 beams. Holographic element 160 is used to diffract a portion of the returned beam to light sensitive elements on detector 120. A ceramic substrate 130 supports the integrated laser/detector device. A retainer 180 holds together the mirror 150, hologram 160 with its holder 170 and the ceramic substrate 130 to complete the device.
One type of semiconductor laser is called a surface emitting laser. One structure for a surface emitting laser uses a semiconductor lasing device which emits the laser beam into a groove in the semiconductor chip. The opposite end of a groove includes a mirror for directing the laser beam from the surface of the semiconductor chip. Such a device is shown, for instance, in FIG. 2B of U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,839.